Ceremony of Touching

From her real-life experience as a doctor trying her best to heal patients, to wartime Japan and the devastation of Hiroshima, Shklanka's poems beg us to witness and explore our own humanity: how we interact with one another, carry on in everyday life, love, grieve. Poems such as "Witness", "Ceremonies for Despair", and "One by One" are astonishing examples of how Shklanka's work, while varied in both style and perspective, retains a powerful, captivating voice that creates a common thread, guiding the reader through the collection.